Thursday, June 23, 2016

Eldritch: Epilogue




So.  This is Eldritch.

  I’ve been at this for years; I’ve spent innumerable of hours on it, producing hundreds of pages. And as comics go, it’s nothing special.  It’s no masterpiece.  It has huge flaws.  But it’s my baby.  Of course, this isn’t the end of what I’ve built here.  I will return to these characters, this world, and do more work based upon it, but it always had a planned end… and here we are.    This isn’t the last the world will see of Faith or Maggie or Mapleview; I hope to visit regularly.  I have so many ideas and plans that someday I hope to put into motion… Who knows? Maybe if I ever find myself financially comfortable, I can devote the time to comicing again and this will simply be just a new beginning.

You know… sometimes, I’ve regretted doing this.  I poured hours of work and research into the story and script and just cranking out the pages, while my friends were studying art techniques.  I fell behind.  I look back over the years and have to admit to myself… if instead of cranking out a page every week, I had studied, read up on composition, or what-have-you… I’d be a better artist.  I could have devoted myself to taking commissions and, even at minimum wage, if I had taken the same hours and applied them to commissions instead, I’d be thousands of dollars richer.  I produced a comic that people can read for free, and one that, after I fix it up, I hope to perhaps make some of my investment back from self-publishing. But that’s a big maybe.   I gave up sleep, recreation, and time with my friends and family just to produce this.  And yet, I have had people get upset at me because the comic wasn’t what they personally wanted to read.  By doing a comic, I opened myself up to insults, complaints, and problems that I’d never even anticipated.  Making Eldritch turned out to be a far scarier endeavor than I’d imagined, and sometimes, I wanted to quit altogether.

However, Eldritch also taught me a lot.  I learned about the process of making a comic, I learned about storytelling and art.  I learned about time management, about dedication and hard work.  I learned about sacrifice.  And I learned about people. 

While doing a comic did show me just how hurtful, selfish, and unthinking people can be… it also showed me how wonderful they can be too.  Not all of the tears I shed while making Eldritch were tears of anguish.  For every loud, demanding, hurtful thing said to me, there were a dozen kind, smiling messages of support, that sometimes, were hard to hear, but were there nonetheless.  At times I got notes or comments that were just so kind, so appreciative, that I couldn’t even think of a decent thing to say in return.  People from around the world have been kind enough to tell me how they enjoyed the comic, ranging from soldiers to students.  The kindness of people has ranged from lengthy letters from sick, bedridden readers who took the time they could muster  to tell me how it’s made their illness more tolerable, to people simply spreading the word about my comic, to others donating points, or even an entire year’s subscription.

But perhaps the best support was the kind, simple words of encouragement received from so many people over these past seven years.

So, to begin my acknowledgements, please allow me to say: To all my readers, and to all of my commenters, thank you.

Mom, Dad, and Sis… thanks for listening to me ramble about ideas and moan and complain when things were hard. None of you have read this, and I doubt you ever will, but Eldritch wouldn’t be here without you.

To the people of The Spirited Goat: Keep on caffeinating.  I’ll see you lovely bohemians soon.

To all of those in The Tribe, thank you for all of the distractions, the game nights, the new experiences, and especially thanks to Jesse and Mercy, for hiking miles and miles with me.

Wolfsjal and SageKorppi , what can I say?  We have never met in person and yet you two have had such incredible impacts on my work and my life.  This wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t have you two cheering me on.  You kept me company while I worked, you listened to me bemoan my research, and you stood by me when things were tough, in spite of your own busy lives.  You are my comrades, my confidants—you provided critiques, inspiration and support the whole way.  There is no way for me to properly express my gratitude, or return the favor.  I’m a better person thanks to you two—you’re better friends than I disserve.  Thank you so, so much. 

DarkIceWolf Dude, you’re the best.  Thank you so much for long conversations while I struggled to produce pages, struggled with loneliness, and worse.  Thanks for being a lighthouse in the dark.

ReKay Man, hon, thanks for being there, for comicing with me, with your water color stained fingers and my computer-strained eyes…. Thank you, for your continued companionship, for adding your own creativity and flair to my life, from the present, back to when we were sharing copics at The Table back at Building 13.  I owe ya, man.

shadechristiwolven , thank you so much, for everything.  If only I knew what an important part of my life you'd be when we first met!  You’re such an inspiration, have always been so supportive, and have been with me the whole way.  I pray to someday be as talented as you, and cannot thank you enough for the artjams, the adventures, and your friendship.  Ya mean the world to me.

And lastly, thank you, yes YOU for being here, for reading this, and coming on this adventure with me.

See you soon.

15 comments:

  1. 1) Faith grew her hair out again?
    2) yay I was right about people growing fennel
    3) Dylan is technically dead, how can he get married?
    4) So Seamus did make it back and stayed in t he Sam timeline, still must wonder on if he is still a chronomancer (auto correct gave me hell on that word) and what the secret society symbols imply
    5 & most important) great comic

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for this comic! And don't you dare think the chunk of your life you gave to it was wasted! When you create, you grow too. You can't help it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Like the others I also want to thank you for this great comic.
    Thank for the great story, thanks for the characters and also thanks for this clean ending with a glance how it continued after this final.
    Honestly I sometimes (during waiting for the next page) feared the comic wouldn't make it to the End.
    But in the End... how could I ever doubt it?
    well, just thanks.

    And I can't wait till you bring us back to this world and Faith, Maggie and the others.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would give a long speech or whatever but that isn't my thing. i only have five words... Thank you for making this!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comic was and still is great. Ihave read and reread it multiple times. I just have 1 question. Will there be more, if not a sequel?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pretty sure my last post attempt was killed by an internet spasm so gonna get straight to the point, calamity has no cover, was it intentional?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have never read a comic so incredibly compelling. When I found out about it, I went from start to finish and every break I took when I had to do other stuff left me wanting for more.

    I know it is unlikely it will ever happen but I urge you to at least try pitching this to an animation company or heck even youtubers who do animation for fun. This desperately needs to be turned into an animated series.

    I can already picture it all in my head.
    But those are my thoughts. I had to at least say something after getting so invested.

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I was late to the party, but what you made here was beautiful. The story arc was amazing, the art had minimal flaws... But you know what? I would definitely recommended this to any of my friends to read.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. i like this comic i'm sad that it is over.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've read all pages in one night , really I found it great
    It has reminded me at 13 spending hours on the net seeking for fantastic fanfictions or comics ...
    Thank you:)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I know this is kinda late xP. But I just finished this comic, I got to say I loved every second I read it. Thank you so so much for creating this awesome comic. I hope to see more of of this awesome world you created.

    ReplyDelete
  13. so I just binged read this whole comic and I loved it. I can't wait to see more of your work.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Greetings!

    You comic came up as I scoured the Internet for a New 'saga' (a story of great length, preferrably completed) to enjoy. Here I fondo a source of great diversion. Well done, and I am glad you learned so much. I want to let you know that your work is continuing to delight readers almost a year after being completed.

    ReplyDelete